


Loving Fluency

by coffee_with_the_sunset



Category: DSMP - Fandom, Ranboo - Fandom, mcyt, sbi - Fandom, sleepybois - Fandom
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Any suggestions for tags idk how to tag, Family, Family Bonding, Family Farm, Fluff, Found Family, Happy, Happy Ending, Literature, Mythology - Freeform, No beta we die like my houseplants, Nothing dysfunctional its all love here, Ranboo learns english, Reading, Real Family, farming, sbi and ranboo found family, wholesome family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-23
Updated: 2021-02-03
Packaged: 2021-03-15 01:00:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28929906
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coffee_with_the_sunset/pseuds/coffee_with_the_sunset
Summary: Ranboo appears at the doorstep of Phil's farm speaking very broken English with nothing more than black shredded robes. Phil the simple, Tommy the illiterate, Wilbur the poetic, and Techno the eloquent all teach Ranboo about living on a farm, as a family, and how to English.-Techno teaches Ranboo big words instead of small words. This pisses Tommy off because he can't understand what gratuitous means, Wilbur thinks its hilarious, and Phil is a caring father figure.
Comments: 8
Kudos: 278





	1. Ranboo of Green Gables

**Author's Note:**

> This was inspired by a twitter post "Techno teaches Ranboo English but only the big words and Tommy is mad" by @simpingboisinc on twitter! I did write this myself tho, and I try to put in literature references and loose references to lore and the smp.  
> This is my first time writing a fic but I've really enjoyed it, so I hope you all enjoy it as well!

It was very soon after a small half enderman child dressed in strange black robes showed up cold at their doorstep asking for “eating” that Phil decided he was going to let the child stay at his home forever. The first thing they asked the child is what his name was. The words that fell out onto the dinner table were simplified to Ranboo, though Wilbur spent years learning how to pronounce it perfectly just to see Ranboo’s face light up when Wilbur called his name to pick him up from school.

  
Ranboo had sat silent at the table that cold night with Wilbur, Techno, and Tommy all pressed in on the other side. After he had finished his third bowl of chicken-noodle soup with three pairs of eyes staring hard at him, Ranboo had looked up and meekly offered, “Good eating. Thank you.”

  
To Phil’s amazement, his sons had settled where Ranboo would sleep in less than an hour. Wilbur and Techno would share the biggest room on the left of the upstairs, Tommy would take the smallest room on the right, and Ranboo would get his own room even further to the right next to Phil’s room.

  
The first year Phil decided not to send Ranboo to school with Wilbur and Tommy, despite Tommy furiously trying to convince Phil that Tubbo needed to let Ranboo taste the bee-honey. Instead, he spent many dewy mornings with Techno and Phil on the farm. Learning how to till dirt, measure feed, and clean out animal pens. Ranboo even seemed happy pulling carrots with Techno under the sun, petting the cows, and talking to the animals in what Phil now recognized as Ender-speak. In the hot afternoons, Ranboo would retreat into the house with Techno to learn English. They started with flashcards of images, words, and numbers. Phil was surprised by the patience Techno showed when Ranboo couldn’t get a word down. He had never been more impressed when Techno spent more than thirty minutes writing syllables, pronouncing the word, and drawing images like pictionary, all so that Ranboo could proudly state after dinner:  
“The meal was scrumptious, Tommy”  
To which Tommy replied, “What is that supposed to mean, bitch.”

  
Phil panicked to explain the definition of the word before Tommy threw something at a pale-faced Ranboo, while Wilbur tried not to choke on his mashed potatoes. Techno quietly smiled as he took a drink of water.

  
-

  
The morning after Tommy taught Ranboo the names of each and every chicken, and about a month after Ranboo showed up at their house, Phil decided he would show Ranboo how to collect eggs. Despite his lanky frame, the kid had steady hands and legs which made him a less likely candidate to drop a basket of eggs on the uneven trail back to the house. After staring intently at the wired basket for several minutes, Ranboo declared, “Clementine gave 9 eggs.” Phil couldn’t help but reflect Ranboo’s smile as they walked back to the house.  
Techno then decided to start teaching Ranboo about his favorite stories. Ranboo learned from Techno about invincible lions, female warriors, and golden apples as he cleaned the stables. Phil was confused later why Ranboo was convinced Techno’s horse wanted to eat Tommy. Tommy reassured Ranboo, “If they tried to eat me, I would kick their ass”, as Karl promptly snorted on Tommy’s head. They rode bareback, Tommy holding the reins and Ranboo desperately gripping onto Tommy, across the grazing fields and through woods. Eventually, Ranboo grew comfortable with the bumpy ride. Laughing and yelling along with Tommy each time Karl leaped over a small creek or large bush. When the warmth seeped out of the trees and the sky got dimmer, they headed home.

  
“Congrats on surviving your first horse riding lesson with Tommy,” Wilbur joked and ruffled Ranboos hair as he sat down to eat. “First time I rode a horse, I fell off and got a concussion.”  
Phil noticed Ranboo’s confused look, “A concussion is when you get hit really hard in the head and you get knackered for a day or two”  
Ranboo nodded gratefully, “Today was very exultant.”  
“Look at Mr. Big-Words over here, Ay?” Tommy mumbled as Techno grinned.  
Wilbur laughed and they fell into warm conversation, Wilbur jabbing at Tommy not knowing what exultant means, and Phil telling Techno and Ranboo they needed to bring in the wheat soon.

  
-

  
A month after the chill grew into a frost and Ranboo spent more time cooking jams and jarring vegetables with Phil than out in the fields with Techno, over boiling pots of water and counterfulls of screw on lids, Phil told Ranboo that he and Techno would be going away for a few days into town to trade out their pigs. It would only be for a week, but with Tommy and Wilbur still in school, he was going to be home alone for the majority of the day.  
“I will not shatter or set fire anything important”, Ranboo solemnly promised and Phil chuckled while telling Ranboo about the few chores that needed to be done when they were gone.  
“And if you need help with anything ask Wilbur. God knows Tommy can’t do a load of wash to save his life.”

That night, Techno brought Ranboo into his and Wilbur’s room and gave a tour of his very large bookshelf. Techno pulled out The Three Musketeers, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, and Treasure Island. Gently instructing that he should read those while Techno was gone.  
“I think you’ll like these one’s,” he said, reaching high to pull one off the shelf. “They’ve got lots of adventure.”  
“More than the guy that fought the lion?” Ranboo ran his fingers over the intricate cover of a golden mushroom.  
Techno nodded, handing him the third novel, and ushered him out of the room.

Ranboo woke up as usual the next morning, eating with Wilbur and Tommy as Phil and Techno packed up to make their trip. Tommy even hugged Techno before rushing out the door. Yelling a short goodbye from halfway down the driveway. Wilbur exchanged a few serious words with Phil before running to catch up with Tommy.  
After loading up the last of the animals, Techno and Phil came inside to bid Ranboo farewell.  
“And you’ll be okay?” Phil asked while giving one last hug to Ranboo.  
“Indubitably,” Ranboo stated while Techno nodded at him.  
“We’ll see you next week then. I expect you to be done with those books by the way. Don’t think that readin’ is for fun,” Techno chastised and patted Ranboo on the shoulder.  
“I will finish them hastily,” Ranboo smiled warmly.

Techno backed out of the driveway, giving one final honk before Phil shouted something inaudible out of the car, Ranboo waving back enthusiastically as the faded red truck drove into the distance.


	2. A Tale of Three Brothers

Ranboo spent his days bringing firewood into the house and shovelling away growing piles of snow. He learned through text books about the differences between was and were while he drank Wilbur’s tea sitting at the kitchen counter (it was marked in a special drawer that Ranboo had been stealing from for a while. Wilbur pretended not to notice), but Ranboo grew bored easily and often ended up curled into the puffy chair by the hearth reading one of Techno’s books. The Friday after Techno and Phil left, Wilbur and Tommy decided to have a ‘pancake battle’.

“I just simply make better pancakes than you,” Wilbur had said after shaking the snow off his boots, continuing an argument Ranboo assumed had started on the walk home.

“Fuck no they aren’t! You never put enough chocolate chips in and yours are always crispy.” Tommy threw his damp green mittens on the ground. 

“That’s called being properly cooked, Tommy,” Wilbur grabbed a notebook out of his backpack. “Last time you were in charge of pancakes, half of them were raw.”

“But Wilbur that was ages ago,” Tommy whined and the argument continued until Ranboo offered a solution. Tonight they could make pancakes for dinner, and they could all vote which was better. Wilbur and Tommy both came to the agreement that Ranboo would be their blinded taste tester.

Wilbur dug through various cookbooks Phil had kept in the pantry, while Ranboo and Tommy talked about their respective mornings. Ranboo thought that Henrietta was starting to miss Tommy, and Tommy had convinced his friend, Tubbo, to give a jar of his honey to Tommy for Ranboo to try. 

That night, Ranboo had been exiled to his room for impartiality over the pancake competition. He listened to the muffled swearing and insults through the thick floors for an hour before a quiet knock on his door. He sat at the counter blindfolded while he tasted the two plates of pancakes. After taking a forkful of both, he took off the blindfold and looked at his two competitors sympathetically, “These both taste horrible.” Furious yelling and laughter filled the house as they threw away the overly salty, half-burnt, almost raw, and drowned in syrup pancakes. Ranboo made omelets and bacon while the other two cleaned up. Each time Wilbur or Tommy tried to defend themselves or start the argument again, Ranboo was quick to describe the specific ways both pancakes had been horrible. Ranboo’s blunt opinion kept Tommy and Wilbur civil through dinner, and they all conceded that the only person in their family that could make pancakes was Phil and Phil only. 

-

A few nights later, Ranboo couldn’t sleep. He had been staring at his ceiling for a lengthy amount of time while the snow storm grew outside his window. He wasn’t sure how long it was before he wrapped himself in a blanket and walked towards Wilbur and Techno’s room where soft light glowed under the doorway. 

Sitting on his bed holding a notebook and pencil with a guitar in his lap, Wilbur softly asked Ranboo, “What’s wrong?”

Ranboo walked over and sat on the floor, leaning against the bed. “I could not rest.”

Wilbur quietly laughed as he continued to write in his notebook. “You need to stop letting Techno teach you fancy words or you’re gonna sound like a pompous dickhead.”

Ranboo yawned and Wilbur started to strum his guitar lightly. “Do I sound like a pompous dickhead?”

“No, you could never.”

They sat in candle-warmed quiet as Wilbur sang about lonely trains, cold disinfectant, and foreboding sisters. Ranboo finally drifted off to delicate guitar strings feeling warm and bittersweet.

-

Phil and Techno called home once during the week they were gone. Wilbur assured that Ranboo had been keeping the house tidy, and that Tommy and him were keeping up with their school work. Tommy animatedly talked about the pancake battle, hands wildly moving despite Phil and Techno not being able to see. (Techno agreed with Ranboo’s final decision). Ranboo discussed the book he was reading with Techno, and Phil excitedly told Ranboo he had picked up a new English textbook for him to work through. When Phil and Techno hung up to go barter for seed for the next growing season, the house sat in an empty quiet.

Until Tommy suggested they should make snowmen. 

“How does one animate a man out of snow?” Ranboo squinted his eyes remembering stories about Dr. Frankenstein and gods creating life out of beautiful statues.

“No, you just make a sculpture out of snow that  _ looks  _ like a person,” Wilbur explained.

“Don’t worry, Big Man, we’ll show you!” Tommy pulled Ranboo off his stool and towards the door, pushing everyone to get dressed in their winter gear.

Quickly, Ranboo realized he and Wilbur had very different views of what a sculpture of a man looked like. In a few minutes, Wilbur and Tommy had both rolled two large balls of snow, while Ranboo had attempted to create a lump of snow that looked somewhat like legs. 

Wilbur, seeing Ranboo was trying to actually sculpt a man out of snow, ran over to show him how to actually make a snowman. With the help of Tommy destroying Ranboo’s half formed legs, they managed to create a decently sized snowman. It had sticks for arms and rocks for eyes. They gave it one of Phil’s scarves and one of Techno’s wide brimmed hats. Tommy declared it looked like a ‘right wanker’. Ranboo took offense and started throwing snowballs in retaliation, and the afternoon devolved into a snowball fight between Tommy and Ranboo while Wilbur cheered them on, building another smaller snowman.

-

“Can we go on the roof, Wilbur?” Tommy asked one night after dinner. 

In a few minutes the boys were dressed in heavy jackets and opening the window in Phil’s room to climb onto the house’s roof. Ranboo slipped more than once on the dark roof but Tommy always reached to steady him. Reaching the very peak of the roof, the three sat down and looked out into the cloudy night sky. You could view the entire farm cast in moonlight from this height. It seemed like the entire world was silent. The animals were asleep, the creeks were frozen, no cars grumbled down their road. Nothing except the soft breathing of Tommy and Wilbur made a single noise. Ranboo looked at what had become his home in the last months. The coop, home to 32 named chickens, blanketed in snow, the barn full of sleeping cows and a horse, and the grazing field where Wilbur had tried to teach Ranboo how to do a handstand. 

The snow drifted lazily around them as Tommy gently set his head on Wilbur’s shoulder, and Wilbur slid his hand into Ranboo’s. 

“It’s been nice to have you, Big Man,” Tommy whispered and they sat watching their home be covered in a snow that looked like tiny falling stars.


	3. Of Rakes and Men

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the ending, so I'm glad you've read this far! I hope you've enjoyed it even though there was a somewhat open ending.

Phil and Techno came home with enough seed for the next year, a good amount of money, and a brand new pair of boots for Ranboo. 

“Seeing as you are going to be walking to school next year I figured you needed a better pair of boots,” Phil explained. Tommy and Wilbur started whooping in delight at the announcement of Ranboo eventually joining them at the schoolhouse. 

  
  


“Oh please, Tommy is just happy that he’ll have another person to cheat off of,” Tommy started to defend himself against Wilburs accusation as Ranboo traded Techno’s hand-me-down for the thick soled new boots.

  
  


The snow had started melting faster than it had been falling, and the paths leading from shed to field to chicken coop were more mud than gravel. The scoldings Tommy got for not cleaning his shoes before going inside became more frequent, and Ranboo felt like he was endlessly scrubbing mud off of the cows and other animals. Once in a while, a cold snap would come along and they would have to burn more wood to push the chill out of their house. When those nights came, Techno would make hot cocoa and they would sit next to the hearth in a pile of blankets trying to keep warm. On one of those blanketed nights Wilbur and Ranboo were conversing about a book that Ranboo thought would inspire some decent lyrics. 

“It even has a chapter about a train!”

“Oh yeah?” Wilbur smiles fondly watching Ranboo describe the book.

“They get transported to this fantastical place, it’s inane, Wilbur you have to read it.” Wilbur eventually agrees as Ranboo continues talking about living statues, talking beavers, and ice queens.

  
  


“There’s a lamppost in a forest, what about that doesn’t just scream dramatic metaphor. It’s also got four siblings just like us! Peter’s like Techno and Tommy is a bit like Edmund but Tommy is kinder than Edmund. That would leave--”

“Ranboo, I’m gonna write the song,” Wilbur watched as Ranboos eyes lit up brighter than the fire beside them. Quickly scribbling down some ideas for the song, Wilbur watches Ranboo continue to hungrily read the book. Instead of writing about the book, Wilbur writes about firelight and snowy nights in.

  
  


Techno and Tommy wander back into the room with a second round of hot cocoa and bring out the movie they selected for the night. After Techno falls asleep long after midnight, they decide to head up their rooms and go to bed.

  
  


Later that week, Tommy drags Ranboo to climb up the machine shed. He always managed to find new and miraculous places to bring Ranboo. Whether it be behind the cellar shelves, the small pond far away from the house, or wedged between two support beams in the ched, Tommy always knew another place to slip away. Legs dangling over a thick enough beam to support his weight, Ranboo asked why Tommy looked so serious.

“I’m really excited for you to come to school with us. It's going to be awesome.”

Ranboo cocked his head, “Is something wrong?”

“No, no nothing is wrong. It's just that there are people at school who are really poggers, right?” Tommy shuffled his legs to better face Ranboo. He nodded for him to continue.

“There’s this guy called George and he's cool, and then there’s Tubbo who you already know, and there's a lot of nice people who are going to love you.” He started to chew on his lip and picked at the wood peeling from the log above him.

“I’m sure it will be lovely at school,” Ranboo reassured gently.

“But the thing is there are some people who aren’t poggers.” He took a deep breath, “There will be some people who don’t like you. It's not your fault or anything, they're just bad.”

Ranboo smiled and shook his head, “I know there are bad people out there, Tommy, they don’t matter to me. I think I’ll be okay.”

Tommy nodded and he loosened his grip on the beams below him. “If anything happens just tell me or Tubbo or Wilbur or George. We won’t hesitate to--”

“I know, I know, anyways how am I supposed to get down from here?” Ranboo cut him off before he could go through the different (and no doubt very bloody) ways to exact revenge on bullies. A few frightening moments of climbing and Ranboo was again firmly on the ground. 

\--

The mud dried into dirt that needed to be plowed. The entire family worked over the summer to plant and harvest and weed until the barn was filled with vegetables. The sun would rise and Techno would drag Ranboo out of bed to put on his boots to bury the scallions. The days when they needed to harvest potatoes were the best.

Sun relentlessly burning through their shirts Wilbur would pick up his rake and challenge Techno to a duel. Tommy would raise his shovel to defend the eldest brother's honor. Dirt and metal tools were sent flying in a battle too ridiculous for the hoe wielding Ranboo to remember who had started it. All was over when Phil brought out the hose and sprayed each of them into submission. Even Techno was brought down by the slippery ground after getting a well aimed swing to the gut with the backside of a hoe. Tommy lay defeated on the ground dripping wet surrounded by a puddle of slick mud and potatoes. Wilbur dramatically kneeled, vowing vengeance on his father while continuing to dig potatoes out of the sun-warmed dirt. A soaked Ranboo helped Techno to his feet to continue loosening soil around the leafy plants. 

Phil continued spraying Wilbur until he quieted about his revenge plot involving many many explosives. Calling for them to clean up and come inside for lunch, Phil left to go roll up the hose. The boys were left piling the potatoes into the cart and throwing the discarded greens into the compost machine. 

\--

The summer ended faster than it had started. Techno started planting more cabbage than beans, and Phil started jarring again. Ranboo knew school started around Fall but he wasn’t quite sure when. Tommy was positively vibrating the entire week up to the first day of school. He couldn’t help but let the contagious energy rub off realizing that this would be the first time Ranboo would be meeting people outside of his family. 

All nervousness fell away that early morning, Phil giving him a pat on the shoulder as Wilbur whisked the trio out the door. The journey was very boring and Ranboo was grateful for the thick walking shoes he had been given earlier that year to stop his soles from getting sore over the long walk. The sun rose as they walked and Wilbur taught Ranboo the words to  _ Hamilton _ . Before Tommy could join in as Hercules Mulligan, the school house peered out over the horizon. 

Ranboo could barely make out a short boy dressed in green jumping and waving at him.


End file.
